Ferguson documentary American Race crowdfunded by Oscar nominee

[Omaha Steve]

Source: The Guardian

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

A team of filmmakers led by Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg are seeking contributions to make American Race, a documentary exploring the “black male crisis” in America in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Berg, together with actor Nate Parker and writer Matthew Cooke, launched a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo two days after a grand jury chose not to indict policeman Darren Wilson for shooting Brown – Ferguson has since seen angry protests in the wake of the decision.

“In response to the growing problem of racial disparity due to the ongoing dehumanization of black men, actor and activist Nate Parker is setting out on a journey of investigation,” reads the callout for funds. Parker will meet with various communities, “with the intention of mining strong and tangible solutions to combat this ever-growing crisis.”

The team began filming in Ferguson in August, to “capture a moment that months prior to any grand jury verdict was already destined to set a nation on edge.” They now want to bulk out the “amazing” footage with more shot around the rest of the US. “The story of Michael Brown is but one story of sadly far too many and we plan to shoot a docu-series that will illuminate the magnitude of this pattern of the murder of black males in our country,” they continue, picking out examples like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

FULL story at link.



A protester holds signs aloft outside Macy’s in New York. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/28/ferguson-documentary-america-race-amy-berg-oscar?CMP=ema_861

[BumRushDaShow]

1. "a documentary exploring the “black male crisis”

Ummm... It's well past time for what would be a better documentary that looks at the "white male crisis". The focus should be on the perpetrators, not the victims. Black males have been studied and documented to death. However little or nothing has been done to look at the pathos of the portion of white male society that feels empowered enough to become judge, jury, and executioner, and this empowerment is not only deemed acceptable, but is reinforced by this society.

[JDPriestly]

3. Have you seen the movies of Berg and Cooke?

Matthew Cooke (born 1973, Washington, D.C.) is the writer-director of How to Make Money Selling Drugs for which Cooke was also the narrator, editor, cinematographer and visual effects artist. Cooke was the producer and editor of the Oscar–nominated documentary Deliver Us from Evil and writer, director, editor and actor on Fuel TV's Stupidface. He produced Adrian Grenier's 2010 HBO documentary Teenage Paparazzo which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Cooke also contributed editing, motion graphics and cinematography work to the picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Cooke_%28filmmaker%29

Amy Berg was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Deliver Us from Evil (2006), West of Memphis (2012) and An Open Secret (2014).

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1332844/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

There treatment of the subject will be fair and provocative.

Everybody on DU has been saying that white people don't understand what it is to be black. Maybe Berg's and Cooke's film will help change that.

[sadoldgirl]

4. I don't think that this kind of film

would change peoples' minds, unless there would be a parallel story
of a white teenager included.

[JDPriestly]

5. Have you seen the film on how to make money selling drugs?

What did you think of it?

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I don't care what they have done

There have been thousands of articles, editorials, books, television news exposes and documentaries, and both fiction or non-fiction films, basically about some "black male problem". Instead of wasting money on yet another, why not spend that money documenting the often multi-generational white male cop culture and what goes on in those households (often including the funneling of bullies into police forces in order to instill discipline and take advantage of certain personality types that appear willing to face perceived "dangers", etc.). Why not go into the trailer parks hidden in the woods away from the urban-headquartered mass media, only occasionally shown in reality shows like "Honey Boo boo"?

The sickness in this country will continue with these types of treatments while essentially ignoring the perpetrators. For every one "River's Edge" or "Bowling for Columbine", there are dozens of "Menace II Society" or "Fruitvale Station".

[JDPriestly]

7. Watch the film. I think they would handle this topic well.

It treats the incentives for police to wage the "drug war."

If we want others to be fair, we should at least be fair enough to refrain from judging a book we have not read or a film we have not seen.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. This has nothing to do with being "fair"

It has to do with story after story, book after book, documentary after documentary focussing on the pathos of the victim within his oppressive circumstances rather than focussing solely on the pathos of the perpetrator. And so this only continues to perpetuate the usual negative paternalistic narrative where others (non-black) insist they have the authority to define blacks, black culture, and the poor widdle black male and all the ills that befall him. Other cultures would never allow this. Enough of this shit.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. You should express your concerns to Nate Parker, here's his twitter link...

https://twitter.com/nateparker

[Stellar]

2. Omaha Steve, you always find some of the most interesting read.

I don't have to look everywhere, I just come here. Thanks!

[Omaha Steve]

8. This came from Marta

She gets a lot of the credit for some of my posts.

[Stellar]

10. That's cool...

but thanks anyway for posting them.